Street Fighter IV (Collector's Edition) Walkthrough & Strategy Guide

Despite having shoto-esque moves, Gouken plays completely different compared to Ryu and Ken. His fireball, for general purpose firing, isn't as good as the typical shoto Hadoken. His Tatsumaki kick travels vertically rather than horizontally, and his Shoryuken equivalent is a horizontal dash, not a vertical strike.

Those are sort of the obvious discrepancies, but the real differences are in how Gouken plays. Because his Gohadoken ( + P ) isn't very fast, you won't use it much in fireball wars. Instead, to combat incoming projectiles, utilize the invincibility of Gouken's dashing Senkugoshoha ( + P ) to pass through the opponent's fireballs and blast him/her in the head. But since that move doesn't act like an anti-air (like Ryu's Shoryuken does), you'll have to figure out other ways to keep a jumping opponent off of you. Try countering with a s.HK up close, or catch the opponent's incoming attack with a high Kongoshin ( + P or K ).

What really makes Gouken unique is his ability to combo, especially into his ultra combo. Connect with an EX Senkugoshoha ( + PP ) mid-screen and you can follow with a normal Senkugoshoha to catch the opponent before he/she hits the ground. Or, if you connect the move in the corner, you can catch the opponent with Gouken's ultra, the Shin Shoryuken ( + PPP ). Gouken can also combo into his Shin Shoryuken off of a backward throw.

Unfortunately, Gouken's throw range is exceptionally weak. You can extend it slightly by kara-throwing off of his s.HK—to do that, try tapping HK just barely before inputting the throw command. Just before Gouken performs the grabbing animation, he'll hop forward a bit, which lets you land the grab from further out. Being able to reliably connect Gouken's back throw is pretty key to success, as it'll give you an unblockable entry to his ultra. And even if you don't have an ultra, can catch the opponent with a Tatsumaki Gorasen ( + K ) which is especially nasty in EX form.

Gouken's also got some good normals. His s.HK has great speed and range, though priority isn't fantastic. Strangely, his c.MK doesn't hit low like most do. Instead, Gouken's c.MP—go figure—acts a lot like most characters' c.MK, hitting low with decent range and cancelability, so use it as a poke. His c.HP is another good poke, with good priority and hit stun, letting you combo even one of Gouken's slow, slow fireballs.

Combos

+ K K s.HP xx + PP + HP

You can start this combo with a normal jump-in or with Gouken's dope Hyakkishu ( + K ) air kick. If you hit it deep enough, you can combo a s.HP which cancels into Gouken's EX Senkugoshoha ( + PP ). That attack knocks the opponent into the air, leaving him/her vulnerable to a juggle with a second Senkugoshoha. The second doesn't need to be an EX version.

c.MP xx + HK xx FADC xx + PPP

As mentioned earlier, Gouken's c.MP is a much better low poke than his c.MK. Connect with it and you can cancel into his MK or HK Tatsumaki ( + HK ). And, if you've got some super to spare and an ultra in the oven, you can FADC the very first hit of the Tatsu, dash forward and catch the opponent with Gouken's rockin' ultra combo.

( in corner ) j.HP s.HP xx + PP + PP + PPP

This combo doesn't necessarily have to start in a corner, but you've got to be pretty close—after the Senkugoshoha ( + PP ), you need to be pressed up against the corner of the screen. After the Senkugoshoha connects you can instantly juggle with Gouken's ultra, or you can tack on some extra damage by first juggling with his EX Gohadoken ( + PP ) and then catching the opponent with the ultra. The damage difference is worth the riskier combo if you can nail it consistently.

Moves List

Sakotsukudaki

+ MP

NORMAL

This attack hits overhead, which means that even though it's a ground attack it will connect with an opponent that is turtling behind a low guard. Throw it into your close pokes for quick damage, or even use it as a meaty attack as most opponents will wake up with a low guard.

Tenmakujinkyaku

+ MK ( in air, at peak of forward jump )

NORMAL

You can combo off of this if it connects real deep. The best thing about the kick is that it causes Gouken to pause momentarily in the air, which can throw off the timing of your opponent. It also shoots down at a pretty steep angle, which means that it'll hit from the front off of the same jump that would normally work for a j.MK cross-up. If your opponent gets wise to your cross-up attempts, try mixing it up with this diving kick.

Gohadoken

+ P ( hold to change level )

SPECIAL

Gouken is fairly slow to launch his fireball, but the projectile's got some things to make up for that. Firstly, you can charge the attack to get two hits out of it, which is especially good for soaking up incoming fireballs and continuing through. Also, each punch button gives you a different angle on the fireball. The LP Gohadoken goes straight across the screen like a normal projectile, but the other punches give you an angled fireball good for knocking opponents out of the air. Charge an angled Gohadoken and opponents will frequently try to jump to dodge it. But if you've charged a MP Gohadoken, you can knock the opponent out of the air. Surprise! The HP version seems to go at an unnecessarily steep angle, so stick to the LP and MP versions.

Senkugoshoha

+ P

SPECIAL

Remember that this goes through fireballs. That's key. You can use the Senkugoshoha to cover ground against a runaway opponent, quickly dashing across the screen while skipping past fireballs simultaneously. The attack's also good for combos. The EX version knocks the opponent into the air for a juggle.

Tatsumaki Gorasen

+ K

SPECIAL

Be careful with this move as a whiffed Tatsumaki will leave Gouken very, very open. It's good for combos, though strangely the LK version won't combo off of a c.MP like the MK and HK versions will. The best use of the Tatsumaki is to juggle after a back throw. The combination does more damage than Gouken's forward throw, so it's worth the risk if you can nail it consistently.

Hyakkishu

+ K

SPECIAL

This is mostly good for applying pressure. A c.MP poke normally has some recovery time on it, which would make jumping at the opponent afterward a bit of a slow maneuver. But you can cancel that same c.MP poke with the Hyakkishu to negate that recovery lag and immediately go into more pressure. Unlike Akuma's version of the attack, Gouken's air kick that you can execute after the Hyakkishu must be blocked high! That's pretty huge, making it a lot more viable as a combo starter.

Kongoshin

+ P or K

SPECIAL

If an opponent hits you during the Kongoshin, Gouken will absorb the attack (similar to a Focus Attack, you take the damage but it recovers) and instantly counter with a pretty powerful strike. You need to use P attack buttons to counter mid and high attacks, or K attack buttons to counter low strikes. Alternatively, you can use the EX version and Gouken will counter either low or high attacks.

Forbidden Shoryuken

+ P

SUPER COMBO

This is a pretty good super that's very easy to combo—for example, you can connect a Senkugoshoha and cancel it into the Forbidden Shoryuken. But...Gouken's EX attacks are so good that we suggest spending the super meter on them instead of the super. Though if you get the chance to combo the super, take advantage.

Shin Shoryuken

+ PPP

ULTRA COMBO

Gouken's ultra is very comboable and very powerful, which are really the keys to Gouken's viability. He can combo off of a backward throw, off of an EX Senkugoshoha in the corner, or off of a FADC'd Tatsumaki mid-screen. A successful Shin Shoryuken combo can completely change the tide of battle, capable of dealing 60-70% damage, depending on the opponent.